Hat tip to Smitty for the idea.

When Dylan fell asleep last night he didn’t know he would be visited by his parents. As soon as his REM cycle kicks in any moment now…

Dylan’s father, Abe, died suddenly about ten years ago. Heart attack. When Dylan thinks about it in hindsight, they probably all should have seen the signs. But hindsight is 20/20, right?

Dylan’s mom, Judy, died more recently – only about two years ago. Cancer. But as far as cancer goes, it ran its course in just two months from diagnosis to her last breath – time enough to say goodbyes, but just.

An only child, Dylan took losing his dad hard, but losing his mother devastated him. “We were on the same wavelength,” he would tell people. Friends who he grew up with knew exactly what he meant. Those who didn’t know his mom – like Ellie, his girlfriend snoring softly next to him in bed – nod their heads and imagine what Judy must have been like based on knowing Dylan. “I’m sorry I never met her,” is generally said in response. And they know Dylan, so they really mean it.

The visit will start as soon as Dylan’s REM cycle begins – these things are hard to accurately judge, particularly as Dylan and Ellie’s cat, Pogo, decided to walk across Dylan to get to the crook of Ellie’s knee. Okay, just a second now…

While Dylan didn’t know this visit was going to happen when he fell asleep last night, Judy and Abe knew. It was a week ago – or was it two days ago? Time is funny on the other side. The exact time isn’t important, but they were visiting the Cliff Palace Pueblo cliff dwellings in Arizona.

“This is extraordinary!” Abe exclaimed examining the balcony house. “Why didn’t we stop here when we drove through Arizona in… was it ’85?”

“It was ’84,” Judy corrected. “And it was because Dylan was embracing his ‘terrible twos.’”

Abe laughed at the memory. “I remember that now. We stopped for exactly twelve minutes at the south rim of the Grand Canyon and then, we were back on the road with him crying inconsolably.” He smiled sadly at the memory. “Poor kid…”

“We weren’t thinking that at the time,” Judy said.

“No, I think we both wanted to sell him on the side of the road,” he laughed. “Judy, do you want to visit Dylan?”

“Always, Abe. But… I mean, I don’t want to, well, I don’t want to haunt the boy.”

“No, I understand. But, you know, we haven’t seen him in a while… well, it seems like a while at least…”

“It’s been a week. Well,” Judy looked at watch, “maybe a week on this side… What’s that for him? I can’t seem to get the conversion right…”

“Five or six months,” Abe said.

“Oh, that long?”

“Time’s strange. It’s slippery,” Abe nodded.

“Don’t I know it. Don’t I know it…” Judy took a few steps to the edge of the plateau. “That’s not too soon, then,” she said. “How should we visit, Abe?”

Abe furrowed his brow in thought. “What if it were just a normal day… a normal high school day for him?”

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Judy agreed.

From Mesa Verde in Arizona, they visited the Temple of the Sun in Teotihuacán, Mexico, where they settled on exactly which night they would visit Dylan. “I’m so glad we don’t have to walk all these stairs,” Abe said gratefully.

“You’re right about that,” Judy said. “So just a normal day, right? Not like his birthday or Christmas?”

“Well,” Abe said looking across the complex, “We could do his birthday, but then it’s the event and we just want to spend time with him, right?”

“Good point, Abe. I’m new to all this…”

“I know, honey,” Abe said. “But I’m glad you’re here. Even if that means you’re not there…” they exchanged the same bittersweet look they’d been trading since Judy crossed over.

I’d like to tell you about some of the other pre-Columbian ruins Judy and Abe visited between then and now, but Dylan’s REM cycle is about to start. Judy is in the kitchen making pancakes in the memory Dylan has of their house as it was when he was in high school. Abe is still in their bedroom getting ready.

Dylan’s alarm clock went off after having been slapped into snoozing several times. Realizing he can’t put it off any more, he climbs out of bed and puts on the shorts, tshirt, and Vans on the floor. He grabs his backpack and heads out into the hallway where he smells… “Mom? Are you making pancakes?”

“Yes, honey,” Judy smiles to herself, fighting not to cry. “Blueberry – your favorite.”

“Aww, mom, I’m going to be late. I overslept!”

“Nonsense, Dylan. You’ve got time for pancakes. Come on now.”

Dylan drops his backpack by the front door and retreats back into the kitchen.

“Have a seat,” she motions to the breakfast table with one hand as she flips a pancake with the other.

“That smells amazing, dear,” Abe says entering the kitchen adjusting his tie. He kisses Judy on the cheek and takes a seat opposite Dylan. “Anything going on today at school, Dylan?”

“Umm…” Dylan tries to recall anything about school but nothing comes. “No, nothing really.”

Judy places a plate of steaming pancakes in front of him. “Butter and syrup are there,” she says returning to the griddle.

“What’s the occasion?” Dylan asks capping the syrup and diving in to the stack.

Judy and Abe exchange the look.

“No occasion,” Judy says. “Just seemed like a good idea.”

“I agree,” Dylan says through a mouthful of pancakes.

“Dylan, not with your mouth full,” Abe admonishes.

“Sorry, dad,” he takes a sip of orange juice. “Meetings today?”

“Yes,” Abe says. “District manager is in town. Should be boring.”

“Sounds boring,” Dylan agrees before eating another forkful.

Judy places a plate of pancakes in front of Abe. He isn’t hungry – well, he’s never hungry any more – but he really just wants to watch his son eat pancakes. Judy, too, stares at Dylan from across the kitchen. After a moment Dylan notices and stops chewing mid-bite. “Umm, you guys okay? What’d I do?”

Abe gives him a warm smile and then starts cutting into his pancakes. “You haven’t done anything, Dylan.”

“It’s just nice to have you both here for breakfast,” Judy says, grateful she is facing away from him so he can’t see the tear escape and trace a line down her cheek.

Dylan takes another bite then absently looks at his watch. “Oh crap,” he swears, “I’m really late now!” He pushes the chair back and pops up. He steps around the table and hugs Abe. “Good luck with your meeting, dad.” Abe squeezes him briefly and fights the desire to hold the hug as long as he possibly can.

Dylan moves across the kitchen, kisses Judy on the cheek and hugs her tightly. She, too, resists the urge to hold him too long. “Thanks for breakfast, mom!”

“There’ll be leftovers in the fridge after school.”

“That’s great,” he says, moving out of the kitchen and towards the door. Abe joins Judy at the edge of the kitchen as Dylan picks up his backpack. “See you guys later!” He opens the front door, waves, and disappears outside, the door closing behind him.

Judy and Abe stare after where he disappeared.

“This is hard,” Judy said letting the tears roll unchecked down her cheeks.

“It doesn’t get much easier,” Abe puts his arm around her shoulder.

“It’s worth it, though,” Judy says nodding her head.

“Yeah…” Abe says.

Judy sighs, then says, “Chichen Itza?”

“Yes,” Abe agrees, “Let’s go,” and they both disappear from the kitchen of Dylan’s memory of the house.

When Dylan fell asleep last night he didn’t know he would be visited by his parents. But as he hits snooze on his iPhone he thinks back on the dream of eating pancakes with his parents. His heart hurts a little knowing it was just a dream, but it felt so real… He knows he’s going to cherish this dream for as long as he can.

Yes, yes, yes, it’s technically November. I’ve timeshifted the last three stories – they were delayed on account of much-needed rest. It just means we’re extending the spooky season into Turkey Time (don’t worry, the birds won’t mind). This is the continuation of Nicole and Sadie’s story from Thursday, October 28th.

The knocks came insistent on the door again as Maria wiped her hands on a dish towel and walked to answer it. “Okay, okay, I’m coming. Hold your horses!” She opened the door to find an exasperated teenage girl standing on the doorstep, hand raised to knock again. “Sadie? What’s going on? Where’s the fire?”

“Hi Maria, is Tina here?”

“Sadie!” Tina esquealed behind Maria. “Oh my God, girl! Come in and tell me everything about your first day back.”

Sadie darted past Maria and she and Tina ran to the family room. “Hi Sadie, how was school?” Maria mumbled to herself as she closed the door. “Good, Maria, thanks!”

“Did you say something, sis?” Tina called from the couch.

“Nothing, T,” Maria called back.

“She was still there?!” Tina gasped. Maria smiled at the friendship Tina had developed with Sadie even though Tina had a good ten years on Sadie when she died.

“She was! She didn’t know anything about the whole pandemic and the lockdown – she thought we all had left her!”

“Oh, that’s terrible!”

“Right?!”

“Girl, werd!” Tina agreed. “Wait, why was she stuck there? She’s a ghost, couldn’t she just leave?”

“I wanted to ask you about that!” Sadie bounced in her seat.  “You can move around, right? So why would she be stuck there?”

Tina looked off thinking. “I always figured since I was tied to M and because she was so mobile so was I. Maybe she’s trapped there because she died there?”

Maria closed the chicken in the oven and joined the conversation. “That’s possible,” she agreed. “But generally ghosts tied to a tragedy like that don’t have full cognizance. Sadie, you said she knows she’s dead and why?”

“Totally. And she totally regrets the whole thing, so I don’t know why she’d be tied there in the first place.”

“Has she talked about her family?” Tina asked.

“She said she was in a foster home. It wasn’t a good place…” Sadie stared at her feet. “I didn’t press. From what she said, though, I don’t think anyone there misses her – and vice versa.”

“Huh,” Maria said, sitting on a barstool in front of the kitchen pass through. “No family, no regrets… unfinished business?”

“Yeah, no,” Sadie said, “I asked about that. If she has unfinished business she doesn’t know what it is.”

“Well, then,” Tina said certainly, “We’re gonna have to go break her out!”

“Really?” Sadie lit up.

“Sure!” Tina said. “That okay with you, M?”

Maria had already gotten her phone out. “I’m going to call your mom, Sadie. I’ll see if it’s okay if we pick you up from school tomorrow. Tina and I will meet you after school and we’ll see what we can do.”

“Oh my God, thank you!” She said throwing her arms around Tina in a legitimate, corporeal hug.

Maria knew Sadie had been getting better seeing and even making contact with spirits, but a full hug surprised her. “Oh, hi Patty! It’s Maria from next door. I was wondering if it would be okay if we picked Sadie up after school tomorrow and…” she paused for a moment and then continued, “took her to the pumpkin patch? You know how Christy loves your daughter,” she winked Tina and Sadie.

“What does Christy love?” Martin came in the front door ducking severely so the giggling toddler on his shoulders didn’t bump her head.

Maria put a warning finger to her lips. “Great, Patty. We’ll have her back at a reasonable time.”

Martin squatted down and the happy little girl ran laughing to Sadie.

“Who’s this little girl?!” Sadie smiled widely at the little girl.

“Who was that?” Martin asked Maria.

“Sadie’s mom. We’re going to break a ghost out of the girls bathroom tomorrow.”

“Oh, sounds like fun. Ooh, is that chicken I smell?”

The next day Tina and Maria met Sadie wearing her red Jansport backpack in the school parking lot.

“You ready?” Sadie asked.

“Let’s do this!” Tina said.

“Hey, T, do you feel that?” Maria said with a sour look on her face.

“The overwhelming feeling of crushingly high expectations, mixed with unrequited crushes, and petty fights?” Tina sniffed the air theatrically. “Yep, smells like high school!”

“No, I’m serious. There’ something not right here…” Maria said.

“I was always more popular than her in high school,” Tina said to Sadie. “I think that’s what’s going on here…”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Let’s go,” she said and started walking.

“Whatever you do,” Tina said to Sadie as they started after Maria, “Don’t ask her about Justin Blackman. Touchy. Subject.”

Maria flipped Tina the bird over her shoulder and kept walking.

“See?”

When they reached the bathroom Sadie pushed inside first to find Nicole pacing.

“Sadie! You came back!”

“I told you I would!” she hugged Nicole.

Nicole broke the embrace and looked at the two women entering behind Sadie.

“Hi, Nicole?” Maria said first.

“You can see me?” Nicole said wide-eyed.

“Yeah,” Maria smiled. “I’m not as gifted as Sadie is, but I can usually see strong ghosts.”

“Hi,” Tina said. “I’m her dead sister, Tina.”

“Oh my God, you’re Tina!” Nicole said excitedly.

“Uh… yes?”

“That’s Tina?!” Nicole said to Sadie.

“It is, right?!”

“It’s me!” Tina said awkwardly.

“Sorry,” Nicole said. “I just haven’t met any other ghosts.”

“Well, you know, we’re a pretty exclusive batch…” she said, fake buffing her fingernails.

“So, Nicole, shall we get you out of here?” Maria said.

“You can do that?” Nicole asked.

Maria looked at Tina who shrugged. “I don’t see any reason why not.”

“Yeah,” Tina agreed looking around the bathroom. “I don’t see any sort ties holding you here. There does seem to be some sort of threshold at the entrance. That might be why you haven’t left.” She walked over to Nicole. “I’m going to put my hand on your shoulder,” Tina explained. “I’m going to loan you a little of my energy to get you past the threshold, okay?”

“Will that hurt you?” Nicole asked.

“Nah, it’s just temporary.” She placed her hand on Nicole’s shoulder and the teenage ghost became a little more opaque and brighter.

“Oh!” she said in reaction.

“Alright,” Tina said. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

Maria held the door open for Sadie followed by a nervous looking Nicole, and then Tina.

The four of them casually walked down the main hallway of the school talking and laughing. Maria saw a custodian standing next to his cleaning cart eyeing them oddly. She held his gaze as they continued walking and swore he flicked out a forked tongue at one point. “Nah,” she dismissed it.

They had just about reached the front doors when a figure stepped out of the office blocking their path. The broad woman sneered at them and said, “Just where do you think you’re going?”

All four stopped.

“Another ghost?” Maria whispered to Tina.

“Not just another ghost,” the woman corrected. “I’m the principal ghost,” she crossed her arms in front of her chest and grinned a toothy, predatory smile.

“Holy shit,” Tina said. “Principal Evans?”

“No!” Maria said. “She died before we graduated.”

“And I never left,” Principal Evans nodded. “But I never stepped down. I’m still in charge here.”

“No you’re not,” Sadie said. “Mr. McNulty is the principal.”

“Ah, Jim, yes…” Principal Evans sighed. “Alas, I can’t manage day-to-day matters on the human plane. That’s what Jim is good for. But he knows which side his bread is buttered on.”

“Mr. McNulty is lactose intolerant,” Sadie said.

“What?” Principal Evans sneered.

“He wouldn’t have buttered bread. He went into this whole thing once about how someone accidentally put cheese on a hamburger and he didn’t notice it and…”

“Enough!” Evans bellowed and all four took an involuntary step backwards. “I don’t know how you got Nicole out of her cage, but she’s going right back.”

“The hell she is,” Tina stepped in front of Nicole.

“Christina Diaz,” Evans raised an eyebrow. “I’d heard you died. I should have figured a miscreant like you wouldn’t get far. What happened? Abusive trash boyfriend? Drugs? Was it drugs, honey?” she said with mocking sincerity.

“Shut it, you cow,” Maria said stepping forward. “You don’t talk to my sister that way.”

“Oh, Maria Diaz. Among the living, I see. Well, probably not for much longer. But I’ll find a nice room for you and for your sister, too.”

“What are you talking about?” Tina asked.

“You haven’t figured it out?” Evans asked. “Well, neither of you were the sharpest knife in the drawer…”

“Bitch,” Tina said.

“You’ve still got a sharp tongue, Ms. Diaz,” she said. “You’ll learn some manners… You see, we use ghosts here for their energy.”

“Shit,” Maria cursed. “That’s what I felt when we came onto campus. It was some kind of psychic fence.”

“Oh, not as dumb as you look!” Evans said. “That’s right, think of Central High as a sort of ghost Roach Motel – the undead check in but they don’t check out!”

“But I never checked in…” Nicole said.

“Ah, no, you were homegrown!” she laughed. “I mean, we could sense your suicidal ideations… it just took a little psychic push and…” Evans drew her finger across her wrist.

“You killed her, you, you…. Cunt!” Tina yelled.

“I mean she did the work….” Evans said pleased with herself.

“Why, you…” Tina stepped forward. Sadie put an arm on the ghost and managed to hold her back. “I took on a grim fucking reaper, bitch. I can take your spectral ass,” she cracked her knuckles.

“Enough!” Evans shouted. “Boys, please put the ghosts into holding. And take Maria and Ms. Rodriguez to the woodshop and we’ll make them ghosts in short order.”

Maria turned to see a group of six custodians closing in on them. She saw the one from earlier as he flicked his forked tongue out and licked one of his red slitted eyes. “Oh, shit,” she said. “These guys aren’t… human.”

“Was it the claws poking through the gloves that gave it away, sis?” Tina said.

“Sadie? I’m scared. I’m dead. I’m not supposed to get scared.”

“Don’t worry, Nicole, I’ve got this,” Sadie said with determination. She smoothly swung the backpack off her shoulder, unzipped the main compartment and drew out a Super Soaker. She let the backpack hit the ground as she gave the water gun a few quick pumps then opened up on the custodian on the right. When the water hit him he shrieked and burst into blinding flames causing the other reptilian custodians to hiss and scurry back.

“Holy shit!” Tina said. “What the hell is that, Sadie?”

“Holy water!” She exclaimed. “Now run!” and all four started running past the still flaming custodian.

“Get them, you worthless idiots!” Evans yelled. “Don’t let them escape!”

Sadie led the four down the empty corridor. Maria could hear howls behind them and assumed the inhuman custodians had gotten past their burned brethren and joined the chase.

“Sadie,” Tina said as they ran, “If we get out of here, you have got to transfer to a less haunted school!”

“Yeah,” Sadie panted, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Maria, now is not the time to play with your phone!” Sadie admonished her sister who indeed was fumbling with her phone.

“Oh, sorry, T, I just had to finish a sudoku…” she said sarcastically. “Make a left at the next corridor!” she yelled. They all skittered around the corner and past a classroom where several spectral figures slammed their faces against the glass as they passed.

“Jesus!” Tina said.

“Friends of yours?” Sadie asked Nicole.

“Holy crap! Maybe I should have stayed in the bathroom!”

“Left!” Maria yelled and they cut left again. She could hear the custodians behind them. She looked over her shoulder and could see them running both upright and bounding dog-like on all fours. “What the hell are those guys?” she asked no one in particular.

“I don’t know,” Sadie panted, “but they do keep the place pretty clean.”

“Oh,” Maria said thoughtfully. “I’m sure they’ll dress our corpses really nicely, too! Left!”

They all turned left again and Tina said, “Uh, M… We’re heading right up to the front again.”

Maria raised her phone to her head as she ran and said something into it that Tina couldn’t make out.

“Yes, come right to me!” Evans barked as she watched the four bounding towards her.

“M? Seriously, what’s the plan?”

“There is a plan, right?” Sadie asked.

The windows behind Evans lit up with an impossibly piercing white light like a thousand suns planted themselves on the lawn out front. The effect on Evans was immediate: she hissed and collapsed into a protective ball.

“Sadie, protect Nicole!” Maria said standing in front of Tina blocking her from the light. Sadie likewise threw herself in front of Nicole

The amplified voice of a man echoed off the walls, “We’re going to shut this light off in a sec. If any of you other than those four ladies even moves, we’ve got you covered and we’re packing spectral rounds that will turn any undead into the extremely dead. This is your only warning.”

A moment later, the lights went dark. Maria and Sadie moved out from in front of Tina and Nicole.  Evans struggled to her feet, though Maria noticed her form seemed to be smoking.

“Alright, ladies, please come out.”

“Is that us?” Tina asked.

“Yeah, that’s us,” Maria confirmed and started forward. Nicole looked nervously at Sadie who nodded and they both followed Maria towards the exit.

“Suck it, cow!” Tina hissed at Evans.

Outside they could see the light had been generated by enormous panels of lights on two firetrucks that flanked a police car, its red and blue lights flashing in the wan evening light.

“Martin?” Tina said to the man standing next to the police car holding the push to talk speaker from the car.

“Hey Tina, Sadie. You must be Nicole?” he said.

“You can see me, too?!”

Martin laughed, “You’ve gotten in with a good group.”

“What are you doing here? What is all this?” Tina asked.

“I figured there might be a chance this was going to be something bigger than we could handle,” Maria said. “So I asked Martin if he’d, you know, be conveniently in the area.”

“Wait, Martin is, what? A Ghostbuster? And here I’ve lived with you guys for years…”

“Not exactly,” Martin laughed. “We have a paranormal investigation division. Think of it less like Ghostbusters and more like… ghost SWAT. Things have been getting more active in the last few years. This division is our way of trying to keep up. And the feds have been investigating this school for some time. I don’t know if they were quite ready to pounce, but no time like the present.”

“Wow,” Sadie said. “Glad we didn’t defund that part of the police.”

Later that night, the four woman sat around the kitchen table in Maria’s apartment eating takeout pizza.

“Are you sure Nicole can stay with you, Sadie?” Maria asked as she took another piece from the peperoni half.

“Oh, yeah. My mom can’t see Tina, so I’m sure she won’t notice Nicole.”

“And you’re okay with this arrangement, Nicole?”

“Beats the girl’s room!” she smiled. “Tina said she’d show me how to be a free ghost now.”

“You have much to learn, young padawan…” Tina said seriously, then laughed at herself. “Is Martin okay with everything? I guess I just assumed he was a normal police officer.”

“They don’t exactly advertise that part of the department,” Maria said. “He texted that he’ll be home in a couple hours.”

“Well,” Maria started, “If they… you know… need someone on the inside…” she gave a conspiratorial wink.

“You’d seriously work with them?” Maria asked.

“Well, there’s only so much Hallmark channel a dead girl can watch.”

“Wait, you guys get the Hallmark channel?” Nicole said wide-eyed.

“Oh, girl,” Tina said, “Tomorrow, you and me, I’ve got to show you what streaming media is all about…”